I am not sure where the Colorado State Register obtained its information concerning the Thompson/Bluebird Theater, but it is inaccurate. The 600 seat Thompson Theater opened on September 11, 1915 and was far from being the “first Denver theater designed specifically for the exhibiton of movies.” The first “movie” theater opened in Denver was the Princess Theater (1620 Curtis Street) which opened on October 11, 1910 and sat 1,300. The next was the Paris/Rivoli Theater (1751 Curtis Street) which opened on October 5, 1912 and sat 2,300. This was followed by the New Isis Theater (1724 Curtis Street) which opened on May 1, 1913 and sat 2,200; and the United States/Rialto Theater (1544 Curtis Street) which opened on February 12, 1914 and sat 1,200. All of these downtown theaters opened before the Thompson/Bluebird and were larger theaters.

In addition there were three smaller (450 seat) theaters opened outside the downtown area before the Thompson/Bluebird. The Royal Theater (243 Broadway) was in the Schomberg Theater Building and opend in June 1910. The Rex/Queen Theater (110-112 Broadway) was opened on April 1, 1911 on the site of the present Mayan Theater. The York Theater (2221 East Colfax Avenue) was opened on September 1, 1911.

The Thompson/Bluebird Theater is the oldest theater site still operating as a theater in Denver. However, they have not shown films at the theater for several years and the projectors have been removed. The building that housed the York Theater is still standing, but is a watch repair store. All of the other building have been torn down.

The Bluebird Theater was originally opened on September 11, 1915 as the Thompson Theater. The owner (John Thompson)also owned and operated the Ogden Theater (1917) at 935 East Colfax Avenue. Thompson sold his theaters in 1920, and the Thompson Theater became the Bluebird Theater in 1922. Sometime before 1925, the Bluebird came under the control of Harry Huffman, who also ran the Bide-A-Wee Theater at 1036 West Colfax Avenue (next door to his Pharmacy) and later built the Aladdin Theater at 2010 East Colfax Avenue.